We were thrilled to welcome U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford and Small Business Administration Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman to our North Las Vegas campus this week for a celebration of the “Made in America” entrepreneurial spirit in Southern Nevada.
CSN President Dr. Federico Zaragoza welcomed the federal officials to campus and noted that Guzman is the highest-ranking Latina in President Biden’s Cabinet.
Zaragoza highlighted CSN’s own Nevada Grow program, which has assisted more than 800 local small businesses with analysis, data, expert advice, and marketing, creating jobs in Southern Nevada. “We’re creating jobs where they’re most needed,” he told a gathering of Entrepreneurs who are involved with CSN’s Small Business & Entrepreneurship Development NV Grow and Blackstone LaunchPad programs. He also said that one in every 74 workers in Southern Nevada was trained at CSN, leading to an annual economic impact on the region of $1.2 billion.
Guzman said that two-thirds of all new jobs are created by small businesses. “Small businesses employ half the workforce,” she said, “and they also produce over 40 percent of the output in this country.”
The event was part of President Joe Biden’s plan to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure and ensure that businesses large and small can compete in today’s world.
“Putting people over politics,” said Horsford, “that’s what we’re here today to do.”